What To Do if your Amazon Firestick Cannot Obtain an IP Address

The Amazon Firestick is a clever device and is capable of many things but without a wireless connection, it’s not up to much. It’s an internet-enabled device whose power comes from having access to the net. Without a connection, it’s just a little black box. So what can you do if your Amazon Firestick cannot obtain an IP address?

Network troubleshooting can be complex but it can also be relatively simple. There are a number of things you can try to get your Amazon Fire TV Stick connected and begin your viewing. This tutorial will walk you through some of the common network issues and solutions that can affect an Amazon Firestick.

In the vast majority of cases, connecting an Amazon Firestick to a network is simple.

1. Connect the Amazon Fire TV Stick to your TV and turn the TV on.
2. Wait for the Firestick to boot and add your network details.
3. Sign in to your wireless network and sign into your Amazon account.

The rest should be as breeze from there. If you can’t get that far, try one or all of the below.

Amazon Firestick cannot obtain an IP address

Most home networks use DHCP which allows the router to dynamically assign IP addresses to devices that want to connect to your WiFi. A device, like the Amazon Firestick contacts the router and asks for an IP address. The router asks for the network password and if the Firestick provides the correct one, assigns an IP address from a pool. That’s it, usually.

If your Amazon Firestick cannot obtain an IP address, try one of these:

Reboot your Firestick

As always, the first troubleshooting step is to reboot devices. Remove the Firestick from the TV and leave it for 30 seconds. Then reconnect it and allow it to boot. Retry connecting to the network.

Reboot your router

If rebooting the Firestick doesn’t work, reboot your router. You can do it from the GUI or using the switch on the back. Turn it off, leave it 30 seconds, turn it on again and leave it a minute to boot. Retry connecting your Firestick to the network.

Forget the network

Your Fire TV Stick remembers your wireless network so it doesn’t have to keep asking you to connect every time you want to use it. Telling it to forget it will drop it from memory and will allow you to set it up all over again. If the settings are corrupted, this can allow you to connect again.

On your Fire TV Stick, select Settings and then Network from the menu. Select Forget. You will then be prompted to set up wireless again. The Forget option can be in plain text or accessible from the three line menu icon depending on your version of Firestick.

Check router security

If you have performed router hardening or someone in your house has, you may need to check what security is in place on the router. There are a couple of settings to check. Make sure MAC address filtering is not enabled. If it is, add your Firestick’s MAC address to the ‘allowed’ list.

To find the MAC address of a Firestick and add it to a router, do this:

1. Select Settings and About.
2. Select Network and look for MAC Address (Wi-Fi).
3. Add the MAC address to the allowed list on the router and save the change.

MAC address filtering is an effective security measure so it may be easier to add the MAC of the Firestick to the list rather than turning off MAC address filtering.

Check the IP address pool

Most routers are set up with around 155 dynamic IP addresses it can provide to guest devices. Some users will change this to only a couple for extra security. While you’re logged into your router, it is a good idea to check to see if your router has spare IP addresses to give the Firestick.

On my Linksys router it’s under Settings and Connectivity. Your router may be different. You are looking for DHCP settings and the IP address range. Some routers allow you to define a maximum number of available IP addresses. Some will allow you to define a start and end IP address in a range to restrict them. Check the settings on your router to see if you have available IP addresses to provide to your Firestick.

If your Amazon Firestick cannot obtain an IP address, one of the steps above should have you connected in no time. Got any other methods to get an IP address on a Fire TV Stick? Tell us about it below if you do!